Today we will learn a few tips and tricks that help me with my crocheting. They are in my tool bag. It has been awhile since you have seen my tool bag. There are a few new ones since then.
My Newest Crochet tools
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The Handy Dandy fringe board
This is quite simply a floor laminate sample from my neighborhood flooring store. I bought mine at Lowes. Originally, we bought it to check out new flooring for one of our rooms but it was hijacked into the tool bag.
Here it is in all its humble glory. It replaces the paperback book that was being used.
See the grooves at either end. You can cut a long 8″ fringe or a cut it at both ends and have a shorter 4″ fringe. The scissors fit in the grooves at either end. It makes fringe making so easy.
The Clover Pom pom makers
These tools are bought and are available online or in the craft shops. I purchased mine at Michael’s. They are the Clover pom-pom makers (affiliate link) in two different sizes.
These are great and so easy to use. If you are going to make several pom poms then they are worth your money. They come two to the package. The smallest size pom pom maker is in the crochet tool bag and not in the photo. (FYI I am not being paid for this endorsement of Clover products. There are other pom pom makers out there that may be better, study up and get the best for you.).
There are instructions on the back and then you wind the yarn around the little
wings, fold it all together and then cut the yarn and tie off the pom pom so that it doesn’t come apart.
The tool bag
The tool bag is essential to keep all these little bits and pieces corralled. A zipper pouch works great, a pencil bag would also work. Here is my tool bag. It has grown over the years but it helps keep the crochet hooks, a pen, my large eye needle and everything else altogether in one place. 
The Blue Monday Scarf
Here is the Blue Monday scarf. Why is it named blue Monday? It was started on one of “those” Mondays, when nothing was going right. Crocheting this scarf was such a joy. The rows added up quickly. Yarn was being used that would some day make someone very happy as opposed to it sitting in my yarn stash gathering dust and adding guilt. Looking at the changes in the colors and how it was so bright and beautiful that I just couldn’t helping smiling and it just changed the whole day. This is why it is named Blue Monday, it can help you overcome the Monday blues!
The luscious fringe and rich vibrant colors just make a beautiful scarf. The best part is that it doesn’t take that much yarn if you choose to buy yarn just for this project. Though, there are plenty of beautiful yarns out there that would also crochet into your own version of Blue Monday. It is ready to go and in the Etsy shop and the Studio Shop.
The background
While there doesn’t seem to be much happening here on the blog these days. Quite a bit has been happening in the background and under the surface. I took an online course or two. I’ve been busy uploading all of the photos from the beginning of Chocolate Dog Studio to a new photo manager, sorting and attempting to make them more manageable.A new computer just made this necessary and I couldn’t put it off any more. Home repairs have been huge in the past 6 weeks. A water leak has morphed into this huge now we have to fix this and then that. Also another repair has shown that some major home repairs are on our plate for the coming weeks. Life has been running fast around here.
This has also been a time of planning and thinking about the future and what it holds. Hopefully, there will be some new crochet coming up soon if I get a chance to sit down.
Take care,
Karen